


Fragments

by Starbuck0322



Series: Back to You [7]
Category: Lie to Me (TV)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, F/M, Sad Gillian Foster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23946715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbuck0322/pseuds/Starbuck0322
Summary: She nods against him, curls to fit beneath his chin. "I sometimes wonder. I sometimes dream about how my life would be different. I see me and Alec and Sophie. I see us happy and loving. I see me happy."
Relationships: Gillian Foster/Cal Lightman
Series: Back to You [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1724767
Kudos: 84





	Fragments

Cal Lightman's soft padded feet tread lightly across the bedroom of Gillian Foster. The shades drawn, curtains together tightly, he blinks in the darkness as he edges toward her bed.

"Gill," he calls out to her, patiently waiting. Her breathing remains steady, calm, and he looks down to her, squints in the darkness. Not a single line on her face, she is peaceful, serene.

Seconds tick by slowly and he tries again, calls out to her gently.

Again, no movement.

Heavy heartbeat resounds in his chest as he takes up position beside her. He reaches forward, touches her face, finds her warm, skin soft.

He scans the room carefully, stops short on her bedside table and reaches out to pick up a brown prescription bottle. He squints, reads the label, and sighs.

"Gill," he says to her, drawing a single lock of hair from her face. "Wake up, love."

Still nothing, her features calm.

"Sweetheart," he leans down to her, places his lips outside her ear lobe. "Come on Gill, wake up."

Suddenly, he hears the familiar change in her breathing. She inhales deeply, her face tightening.

He continues to brush his hands over her face, trails her hairline with gentle fingertips.

She moans, lips tightening, and blinks, squinting up at him in the darkness.

"What?" she says annoyed with him, and twists her body uncomfortably.

"You all right, love," he asks pressing his palm flat against her cheek.

Gillian looks around the room and returns to him as if in a drunken haze. She stares at him, breathing heavily. "Cal? What are you doing here?"

He removes his hand from her face. He leans forward again, braces himself on the sides of her body. "You didn't come into work. I got worried."

"I called you."

Cal sighs, looks down to her lips. "Gill, that was yesterday."

Gillian blinks lazily. Her eyelids close and she sighs.

Cal watches as the lines of her face disappear, lips slightly parting. He watches as her breathing subsides.

Again, he reaches up to brush her face. "Gillian."

Gillian's eyes shoot open and she groans. "I'm tired Cal. What?"

He reaches forward, picks up the prescription bottle. "How many of these have you taken?"

Again, she squints. "Two. I think."

He sighs heavily, places the bottle back on her bedside table. "Gill, this is serious stuff. I'm sure you know that."

"I do." She rubs her eyes, opens them wide, her pupils slowly returning to normal. "One wasn't enough. That's all."

She sits up, flattens the sheets around her and looks at him, concern invades every inch of his face.

She sighs, her eyes closing. "You hacked into my calendar again, didn't you?"

He motions out toward her with a single hand. "Well, in my defence, it's not like you're making it difficult for me."

"It's my calendar."

"You're my partner."

"It's my life."

He cocks his head toward her, inches up the bed toward her. He reaches forward, places his hands flat against her hips. "Talk to me, Gill."

She grows tense in his hands, back straightening. "You already know what this is about."

"Please..."

She exhales and shakes her head lightly. "There's a folder on my bureau."

Cal removes his hands from her body, retrieves the folder, and returns to the bed. He opens the blue folder, its contents spilling out onto his lap. On top is a photo that draws his attention. It is of a young girl, not more than 3 years old, with curly brown hair, a smile wide on her face. Several other photos emerge from behind it. The young girl and a chocolate Labrador. The young girl on a swing. Each face reading joy and happiness.

Cal looks up to Gillian.

"These are Sophie?"

She nods slightly.

"Gill..." he trails on.

"I had to know Cal," she divulges leaning forward to grab one of the photos. "I had to see that she was okay."

Cal sighs again and closes the folder, replacing its contents. He places the folder beside them, and inches back up the bed to sit close to her.

"You need to let this go." He cocks his head again. "You need to let her go."

Scorn treads across her features. "Don't you think I know this? Can't you see I'm trying?"

"Are you?"

"Every day."

"Gill, this," he points to the folder. "This is you hanging on."

"You don't understand.

"I want to. I do."

"Then don't tell me to do this. Don't tell me to give up on her."

There; she has said it. The honesty causes the tears to form in her eyes.

"Gill, this ended years ago. You're stronger than this. You need to stop giving up on you."

"Oh stop with the psycho babble bullshit, Cal."

"Well one of us has to play that card, don't you think?"

She is motionless in front of him, hangs onto his words.

"Sweetheart, I know you're hurting, and it kills me to see you like this, but you'll need to talk to someone. And if you can't trust me with this, then you need someone else."

"I can't."

"You need to be strong enough to know when you need help, Gill."

She bursts into tears, falls forward and clutches to him. "I just want the pain to go away, and I think that it does, but it just keeps coming back."

"It's not fair, what's happened to you," he soothes. His hand rests flat on her back. Afraid as if he might hurt her, that she could fall to pieces in his arms. Something tears within him. "You don't deserve this, love. You don't deserve any of it."

She nods against him, curls to fit beneath his chin. "I sometimes wonder. I sometimes dream about how my life would be different. I see me and Alec and Sophie. I see us happy and loving. I see me happy."

He brings a hand to her hair, strokes her gently. Places a kiss to her forehead.

"Maybe I wouldn't be so lonely. Maybe I wouldn't be such a wreck."

He takes her face, pulls her back from his body to look at her. He fights for positioning, fights to draw her eyes to his. "You're not a wreck, love," finally, reaching her, drawing her in. "You're just hurting."

"I don't want to hurt anymore."

He places a kiss to her forehead again. Thumbs away a few tears which fall from her eyes. "We'll fix this, Gill. You and me."

She is quiet suddenly, looks up at him longingly, hopeful. "I hope so."

He runs a hand through her hair, leans forward and presses his lips to hers. She tastes salty and sweet and it takes her a moment to relax, before finally allowing her lips move on his own. He is gentle, and fights the passion growing within him.

He pulls back, watches as her eyes close. He leans in again, places another gentle kiss to her lips. Another to her forehead. A hand trails her back, another continuing its work on her hair, soft between his fingers.

"Stay with me," she whispers, her breath warm against his face.

It is enough invitation for him to move the folder beside her, crawl over her and draw her into his arms. Cradling her to his chest, he listens as her breathing calms. Her arms wrap tightly around him, her fingertips play casually with the fabric of his t-shirt.

"You're not a wreck, love." He looks down to see her curl tighter to him, watches as she nuzzles into him. "You're most definitely not alone."


End file.
